Typical River Day

A typical river day begins with the sun peaking over the canyon rim to knock the cool evening chill from the air. The group joins for coffee, tea and fruit juice as you watch the sun climb the walls of the canyon while listening to the river flow past. As you soak in the surrounding beauty, smells of a fantastic river breakfast fill the air. Our guides are all accomplished river chefs and willing to share their cooking knowledge with you, so ask away! The guides at Winding Waters River Expeditions want you to feel included in every aspect of your adventure, not only as a passenger along for the ride.

After breakfast, while packing your personal gear, the guides clean up the kitchen, load the gear boat, and ready the guide boats for the new day on the river. Around 10am once everyone is finished with their morning rituals we will gather for the daily “Chalk Talk”, a time when we discuss what to expect during the day. Typical items include upcoming rapids, safety topics, potential interpretive stops and side hikes. You will also have the choice of deciding which type of boat you would like to ride in. You will have the choice of riding in a guided row boat, an inflatable kayak (duckie) a guided paddle raft or on the Learn to Row Adventure you can choose to be in your own Row Boat. Once personal floatation devices (PFD’s) are fastened properly and you are in your craft of choice, we bid farewell to the Gear Boat and hit the river.

While floating, you will enjoy the calm sections of river and anticipate the upcoming whitewater. This is time to catch a fish, try your hand at the oars, scan the canyon walls for wildlife such as Big Horn Sheep, Black Bear, Deer, Elk, and look to the sky for soaring Bald and Golden Eagles, Great Blue Heron, Osprey and many other species of bird life.

After a morning of floating and whitewater, we stop for lunch. We choose a spot on the river with a nice swimming hole, interpretive location, or cool shade to escape the sun as we enjoy our delicious river lunch. As always, you are invited to learn from our guides in the kitchen or just simply enjoy yourself on the beach or swimming in the river.

We will catch up to the gear boat in Camp late in the afternoon. After a brief camp orientation you will have a chance to choose a tent site and settle in to your home for the night. Once settled in, you will have opportunities to go for a hike up the side canyons exploring the canyon beyond the river, lounge near the water, go fishing, swim and play many of our favorite river games, or just curl up and read from your favorite book. Following the heat of the day, the guides will prepare the evening meal. Our guides will always surprise you with their culinary skills, amazing you at the bounty they pull from their coolers. After we dine in our 5 star riverside restaurant, the group will settle in for an evening of telling tales and playing games around the campfire. There are always many stories to share, from tales of the day running the rapids to other stories of life’s wonderful experiences.

As the fire begins to fade, the stars will begin to illuminate the sky. When you retreat to your wonderful river side bed, be prepared for potentially the best night sleep of your life. You will fall asleep to the sound of the river flowing by, the sight of shooting stars in the sky, the memories of the previous days on the river, and the anticipation of the days to come.